Mumbai: Rajeev Sharma played the lead role as he won both his frames which helped Malabar Hill Club make a positive start defeating Elphinstone CC in both the home and away fixtures 592-521 and 507-406 in Section-A first round encounters, during the opening week, of the Billiards & Snooker Association of Maharashtra (BSAM) organized annual Greatwhite-CCI Kekoo Nicholson Mumbai Billiards League 2023. Having won both the matches Malabar Hill Club picked up a bonus point and now have 5 points from the first round.
In the home tie, Sharma (-10 handicap) got the better of ECC's Anurag Bagri (SCR) 200-146. Sharma maintained the winning momentum in the away match and constructed breaks of 56 and 38 as he went on to defeat Rajwardhan Joshi (+20) 200-92 to provide Malabar Hill with the ideal start. Sharma’s teammate, Kunal Gandhi managed to capitalize on that advantage and helped the team register wins in both the encounters.
Meanwhile, Cricket Club of India team, boasting of multiple times World Champion Pankaj Advani, former Asian Champion and current India No. 2 Dhruv Sitwala, Hasan Badami, Giriraj Gaglani, Kanishq Jhanjharia and Krish Bajaj, as expectedly also won both their home and away matches. They overcame P.J. Hindu Gymkhana 537-450 in the home game and then in the away fixture won 590-536. The wins ensured CCI have five points, including one bonus point.
